At last year's Omaha 8 or better tournament, Daniel Negreanu was down to two chips and still managed to beat Asher Derei, who had all the rest. Back again, the Israeli pro this time around was able to vindicate himself by claiming victory in the same event, the third in this year's 4 Queens Poker Classic.
Actually, he, Joseph Kim and a well-known Vegas pro who goes by the nom de guerre of "The Grey Ghost" agreed to a three-way chop when they were fairly even. Now playing for a mere$440, they seemed more interested in topping each other with quips rather than with chips. Two-handed, Kim finally asked, "why are we wasting time?" and they ended it at the civilized hour of 9 p.m. with Derei holding a $52,000-$43,000 lead.
Scott Hunter finished 10th. He went all in with all big cards, but little cards came and the Grey Ghost scooped with a wheel. At the final table, the clock showed 16:32 remaining, the limits were $1,000-$2,000 and Derei owned $24,500 of the $95,000 in play.
Final Table Chip Count
Mallory Smith
$1,700
David Velke
$2,000
Asher Derei
$24,500
Vince Burgio
$9,900
Barry Shulman
$5,200
Joseph Kim
$16,400
Steve Kaufman
$14,9000
Bobby Kirkwood
$3,800
"Grey Ghost"
$16,600
Mallory Smith, a Colorado CPA, lasted two hands. In the small blind with Q-Q-A-6, he raised all in for his $1,700. Kim, who is in the close-out business in Texas, closed him out with A-A-J-4 when the board came 10-3-2-K-K.
Two hands later, David Velke, retired from the signage and exhibition business, also was in the small blind, also had queens, also went all in and also went broke when the ghost man, starting with A-2-6-J, made aces and jacks.
And two hands after that, Bobby Kirkwood, a flooring contractor, got waxed. He raised with 2-3-6-7 and got a terrible flop of K-K-A. But with only $2,300 left, he later said "I had to do something," and futilely chased back-door draws to a low and a flush, losing to Vince Burgio's paired ace. Thus far, Mallory, Velke and Kirkwood had all busted out in direct relation to their starting chip count. Card Player publisher Barry Shulman, fourth lowest to start, now obediently followed in order. He was in the small blind when Derei, holding A-4-7-8, put him in for his last $700. When 9-4-2 came, Shulman was in the lead with 4s and 2s. But a second 9 on the river killed his hand. They both now had 9s and 4s, and Derei's ace kicker was the decider.
Limits were now $1,600 and $3,200. On hand 19, Steve Kaufman, a professor of literature and ancient languages, was stuck in the big blind with a junk hand of Q-8-5-2 when Vince Burgio raised him all in for $200 more. Burgio had a low starter of 2-2-4-7, but flopped a set to cut the field to four.
By the next break Asher, who had taken a big pot from Burgio by flopping a set of kings, now had increased his lead to a commanding $52,400. Burgio had $18,800, the ghost, $12,800 and Kim, $11,000. But then Kim and the ghost took turns nibbling on Derei's stacks. Asher suffered a setback when he was drawing to a nut low and nut flush on a board of J-4-3-J. The ghost, with nothing much more than A-K, was trying to represent a third jack, but instead hit a winning king on the river as Derei missed everything. Then Kim hit a straight to cut Derei's stacks to half what he had pre-break. "I'm the designated enemy now?" Asher asked. "Let us win one time," Kim replied.
The one thing that Burgio could not do was win one time after the break. He finally went out on hand 24 when, for the second time, he flopped two pair, only to see that Derei had flopped a set. He had A-8-9-10 to Derei's 10-10-9-4 and the board came 10-9-2.
With limits raised to $2,000-$4,000, Derei had $38,000 while Kim had $32,000 and the Grey Ghost had $25,0000. After several hands, they all were in the $30,000 range, and agreed to take $7,000 apiece and play for the remaining few hundred and the trophy. Derei built his stacks to about $50,000 when he turned a set of kings, then Kim briefly took the lead after scooping a couple of pots, lost it, then took it a second time after making a straight on hand 46. This made up somewhat for the embarrassment he felt when he overlooked his nut flush on one hand and, last to act, checked on the river.
But the three were just having a lot of fun. "I don't care about the trophy, I just want to break both of you," the ghost said. The phantom was finally exorcised after Derei, with 2-3-4-7, bet dark before the flop and the ghost, with A-2-6-K, raised all in on a flop of Q-9-2. Derei scooped with a flush and a better low. The two finalists played a few hands, with Kim arguing that the few hundred dollars was not worth wasting time over. "It's money; I used to work for a living," Derei replied. But two hands later he agreed to take the win and end it. --Max Shapiro
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